Unitized needle and holder



.uy 14, 1970 c. H. BARR, SR., ET AL 3,520,292

UNITIZED NEEDLE AND HOLDER Filed Nov. 30, 1966 United States Patent O3,520,292 v UNITIZED NEEDLE AND HOLDER Courtland H. Barr, Sr., LosAngeles, Courtland H. Barr, Jr., La Canada, and John W..Barr, Glendale,Calif., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Abbott Laboratories, NorthChicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Nov. 30, 1966, Ser.No.597,970 Int. Cl. A61m 1/00 U.S. Cl. 128-2 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A blood pilot tube holder sealed at one end with a cannulasupport carrying a sharpened cannula inner end extending into the tubeand sealed at the opposing end by a thin, slidable diaphragm whichduring use is slid down the holder with a blood pilot tube until it ispierced by the cannula point.

This invention relates to a novel blood pilot tube holder and to thenovel combination comprising said holder and said tube.

It is routine practice in hospitals to employ an evacuated, stopperedblood tube to collect blood samples. These samples are normallycollected by placing the stoppered pilot tube in a holder having acannula therein, one end of which is adapted to be injectedinto the armor leg of the patient and the other end being adapted to puncture thestopper in the pilot tube to thus enable the vacuum within the pilottube to withdraw the required sample from the patient by suction throughthe cannula. Frequently the holder containing the cannula is maintainedin storage for a protracted period before use, and in any event, issubjected to all of the hazards of shipping. One of the principalhazards in the shipping and storage of the holder is that the cannulamay become contaminated with dirt, bacteria, and the like before use.Obviously, if the cannula is contaminated, the contamination may beinadvertently injected into the patient when the cannula end is insertedin the patient for the purpose of withdrawing the blood sample. Yetanother hazard associated with the presence of contaminents on thecannula is that the blood sample may become contaminated in the bloodwithdrawal process thereby leading to erroneous analytical results insubsequent blood analyses. Contamination of the blood sample may alsolead to unnatural clotting or other deterioration of the blood makingthe sample unsuitable for any study or analytical purposes. Thus, it can'be seen that there hasjexisted a long-left want for a simple fool-proofmeans whereby the cannula in a holder for a blood pilot tube Imay bekept in a sterile condition until use and yet can still be operated inconjunction with the blood pilot tube whereby the vacuum in the pilottube may effectively withdraw the desired blood samples through thecannula of the holder.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention toprovide a novel -holder for a blood pilot tube wherein the cannula inthe holder is maintained in a sterile condition during storage andtransit.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide aholder vfor a blood pilot tube wherein the cannula is protected at oneend by a cannula cover and at the other end by a slidable diaphragm ttedwithin the holder.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a novelcombination comprising a holder having therein a cannula, a diaphragmslidably received within said holder for preventing contamination of thecannula, and received within the holder a blood pilot tube.

These and other objects and advantages of the inven- 3,520,292 PatentedJuly 14, 1970 tion will become apparent from the following descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Briefly, the present invention comprises a holder including a tubularportion having one end wall, a cannula having two sharpened ends, saidcannula traversing said end wall at the approximate intermediate portionof the cannula; slidably tted within the tubular portion of the holder adiaphragm sheath to maintain that portion of the cannula extending intothe tube in a sterile condition prior to use. The invention furtherincludes the utilization of a needle cover over that portion of thecannula which extends beyond the end wall of the tube portion. Theinvention still further comprises the combination of the above-describedholder in conjunction with a blood pilot tube comprising a tubularmember having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the tube portionof the holder, said blood pilot tube being closed at one end and havinga puncturable stopper in the other end. The pilot tube is adapted to beused to force the diaphragm to slide down the inside of the tube of theholder whereby the diaphragm and the stopper are punctured by thecannula of the holder.

Turning to the drawings:

FIG. l is a plan view of the blood pilot tube holder of the presentinvention n its packaged form.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the device of FIG. l.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of the device of FIG. l showing ablood pilot tube and its associated stopper in contact with thediaphragm within the holder.

FIG. 4 shows the parts of FIG. 3 wherein the blood pilot tube has beenforced into the tube portion of the holder and over the cannula.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the device of FIG` 4.

FIG. 6 shows the device of FIG. 4 inserted into the arm of the patientwhereby a blood sample may be removed from the patients arm.

With reference to the drawings, more specifically, in shipment andstorage, the device of the invention appears as in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5. Thepilot tube holder 10 is provided with end Wall 12 through which passescannula 14 having a sharpened inner end 16 and a sharpened outer end 18.Slidably mounted within holder 10 is the diaphragm sheath 20 which formsan aseptic seal against the sides of the holder and effectively isolatesthe inner end 16 of the cannula 14 from contamination. The sheath 20 hasan upstanding rim 21 around its periphery which also aids in sealing thecannula from contamination. The outer end 18 of cannula 14 is protectedby cannula cover 22 which also forms an aseptic seal on holder 10.

In FIGS. 3, 4 and 6, there is shown the pilot tube holder 10 incombination with the pilot tube 24. The pilot Vtube 24 is provided witha stopper 26 and is sufficiently smaller in diameter than the tubularportion of lholder 10 so that it can be easily received in the holder asshown in FIGS. 4 and 6.

In operation, when it is desired to take a blood sample, the package asshipped (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) is taken, and the cannula cover 22 isremoved. An evacuated blood sampling or pilot tube 24 having a stoppertherein is then placed in the holder 10 so that engagement is made withsheath 20. The nurse or other operator of the unit then forces thesheath 20 down the tubular portion of holder 10 by pushing on the tube24 until the sheath-20 has been pierced by the scarf of the inner end1-6 of cannula 14, and the scarf has just begun to penetrate the stopper26 (thin web portion 27 as shown in the drawings). The rim 21 preventsthe tipping of the sheath as it is pushed down the length of the holder.The outer end 18 of cannula 14 is then inserted into the arm 28 of thepatient and the penetration of stopper 26 by scarf of cannula end 16 iscompleted by the further application of force to the pilot tube 24. Assoon as the scarf of can- 3 nula end 16 completely penetrates thestopper 26, the blood sample is drawn from the patient into pilot tube24 due to the vacuum in the tube 24.

As has been indicated, the pilot tube 24 should be pushed into holder sothat sheath 20 is completely penetrated and stopper 26 is partiallypenetrated by the scarf of inner end 16 of cannula 14 prior to theinsertion of outer cannula end 18 into the patient. This is necessary toprevent the injection of air or other gases into the blood stream of thepatient which might cause an embolism.

As will be immediately apparent to those skilled in the art, numerousvariations on the structures depicted in the drawings are possible, andhence Within the scope of our invention. For example, the cannula 14need not have an intermediate obtuse portion as shown in the drawings.The cannula may be straight, or have a U-shaped intermediate portion, orhave other configurations common among the known cannulae. Likewise, theouter end 18 of the cannula need not 'be offset with respect to thelongitudinal axis of holder 10. While the outer cannula end ispreferably offset to facilitate insertion into the vein of the patient,it is to be understood that the outer cannula end may also be alignedaxially with holder 10.

The cannula cover 22 may be of any configuration provided it affords atleast one seal between the cannula end 18 and the atmosphere for themaintenance of sterility. For example, end wall 12 may be provided witha boss from which outer cannula end 18 extends. In this case, thecannula cover would be of the same approximate diameter as the boss toprovide a seal ybetween the cover and the boss.

The blood pilot tube may be provided with a stopper projecting beyondthe end of the tube as shown in the drawings. Optionally, the stoppermay be flush with or recessed from the end of the pilot tube. Thestopper may be provided with a thin web portion in its center to permiteasier penetration by the cannula as shown, or may be uniform incross-section, or be of other configuration. Where the stopper is llushor recessed, the end of the pilot tube 24 rather than the stopper can beused to push the sheath along the length of holder 10.

The sheath 20` preferably has a small up-turned portion around itsperiphery as shown in the drawings. This improves the seal and alsoprevents dislodgement during shipping and handling, as well aspreventing tipping when it is being forced down the length of holder 10and over the cannula.

By the present invention, there is provided a simple unit for thecollection of blood samples. The constructions involved are readilyassembled and foolproof. Yet they are very effective in the maintenanceof sterility of all the surfaces which contact either the patient or theblood sample. For this reason, the invention represents a substantialadvance in the art fby reducing the possibility of infection of thepatient and the collection of defect blood samples.

While the drawings depict one form of the invention, it will beunderstood that many variations are possible within the spirit and scopeof our invention. For example, the holder need not be of cylindricalconguration, `but may be of any cross-section. Likewise, the holder neednot be completely closed at the end supporting the cannula or around thesides thereof. In the drawings, one form of the cover is shown. However,any other form of the cannula cover capable of protecting the protrudingend of the cannula may be used.

Having fully described the invention, it is intended that it be limitedonly by the lawful scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A novel blood sampling assembly comprising a hollow tubularcylindrical holder having one supporting end for a cannula, extendingfrom the supporting end of said holder a cannula, said cannula passingthrough said supporting end and having a sharpened outer end and asharpened inner end, slidably received within said holder and sealingthe opposing end thereof a thin permanently mounted diaphragm whichcompletely spans said holder and is capable of being punctured by saidinner end of said cannula upon being slid longitudinally within saidholder, a cannula cover covering said outer end of said cannula,received within said holder a cylindrical blood pilot tube having anopen end and a closed end, said open end containing a stopper, saidstopper and tube having a diameter smaller than the inner diameter ofsaid holder whereby said tube and stopper may be inserted into the openend of said holder to abut said diaphragm and push said diaphragm overthe said inner end of the cannula and puncture said stopper.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the portion of said cannulaintermediate said inner and outer ends and embedded within saidsupporting end is obtuse with respect to said end portions.

3. The holder of claim 1 wherein the diaphragm has a thin upstanding rimaround its periphery extending toward said open end of the holder andsealing upon the inner wall of said holder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,847,996 8/ 1958 Cohen et al.3,099,988 8/ 1963 Ginsburg Y 12S-221 3,200,813 8/ 1965 Christakis 128-23,382,865 5/1968 Worrall 128-2 WILLIAM E. KAMM, Primary Examiner U.S.Cl. X.R. 12S-22 1

